Missouri Voters Will Decide Whether To Legalize Sports Betting: Secretary Of State

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Larry Henry

Last Updated: Aug 13^th, 2024

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Missouri Voters Will Decide Whether To Legalize Sports Betting: Secretary Of State

The Missouri secretary of state has OK'd letting voters decide in November whether to legalize sports betting statewide.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Tuesday issued a "certificate of sufficiency" regarding sports betting being on the November ballot. To receive a certificate, a minimum number of valid voter signatures must be obtained in six of Missouri's eight congressional districts. The minimum number has been met, according to a news release from Ashcroft's office.

That means the sports-betting issue is headed to the Nov. 5 statewide ballot, JoDonn Chaney, secretary of state spokesman, told Gambling.com.

This week, Ashcroft’s office completed the process of analyzing and verifying the voter signatures required to put the issue on the ballot. The signatures already had undergone a verification process by 116 local election authorities across the state, Chaney said.

Earlier this year on May 2, a coalition wanting to let voters decide on sports betting submitted more than 340,000 signatures to Ashcroft's office. That number is about double the total required to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The deadline to submit signatures was May 5.

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Pro Sports Teams Back Legal Sports Betting

If voters approve the constitutional amendment, Missouri’s 13 casinos and six professional sports teams would be allowed to offer onsite and mobile sports betting. Wagering would be illegal for anyone under age 21.

The teams backing the measure are the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs and two soccer teams, the Kansas City Current and St. Louis City.

Sports-Betting States Surround Missouri

Currently, sports betting is illegal in six of the 12 states with university athletic teams competing in the Southeastern Conference, including Missouri, where the Missouri Tigers are an SEC school.

Every state bordering Missouri, except Oklahoma, has legal sports betting. Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

On an episode of Gambling.com’s “The Edge,” Gary Jenkins, an attorney and retired Kansas City Police Department detective, said he believes voters will approve a sports-betting ballot question, in part because tax dollars are going out of state from Missourians seeking to bet on sports legally.